The Hessians

A Mercenary Soldier

Johann LENTZ (1765 - 1810) 

Relationship to Me
THIRD Great Grand-Father

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In early 1776, King George III of England  hired units from the various houses or states of Germany to assist with bringing the the colonist's rebellion to order. The hiring of foreign troops to supplement a country's army was a normal procedure during this time of history. Several of the German rulers, needing hard currency and being "between wars", were only too happy to oblige.

They were Frederick II, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel (a principality in northern Hesse) King George III's brother in law,   his son William, count of Hesse-Hanau and nephew to King George III; Charles I, Duke of Brunswick; Frederick, Prince of Waldeck; Charles Alexander, Margrave of Anspach-Bayreuth; and Frederick Augustus, Prince of Anhalt-Zerbst.

The Hessians and the American Revolution

Revolutions do not start with a big bang, they are like a kettle of water slowly simmering on the stove until with increased heat it suddenly boils over. That is exactly what happened with the American Revolution, everybody saw it coming, except the British, they were utterly unprepared when finally the boiling point was reached. when the conflict started there was hardly any British military power in place in the American colonies. The few British troops stationed at Boston and New York saw themselves vastly outnumbered and in March of 1776 fled to the safe harbour of Halifax, Nova Scotia, leaving all the existing British colonies in the hands of the rebels, except Nova Scotia, which at the time included the territory of New Brunswick, and the Province of Quebec.

The American revolutionaries, encouraged by their initial successes, invaded Canada in September of 1775 under the pretext to liberate their northerly neighbours from the tyranny of the British king. In December they had captured the City of Montreal, and advanced to the fortress of Quebec City. Only the determined defence put up by Governor Guy Carleton and his small army deprived the attackers of final success. Quebec held out against all attacks until spring of 1776, when a British fleet arrived with a large army of British and German troops.

The German troops had been hired by King George III to help to suppress the American revolution. All through the previous winter negotiations had taken place between the King's emissaries and some German princes to supply a substantial number of well trained troops to serve in America. In fact, some of the princes recognizing Britain's need for additional troops, had offered them to King George III, and after due discussions in the British parliament, treaties were signed with six individual princes to supply 20,000 men to be shipped immediately to Canada and America.

After the war ended in 1783, 17,313 Hessians returned to their homelands. Of the 12,526 who did not, about 7,700 died - around 1,200 were killed in action and 6,354 died from illness or accidents. Approximately 5,000 Hessians settled in North America, both in the United States and Canada - some because their commanders refused to take them back to Germany because they were criminals or physically unfit. Most of them married and settled amongst the population of the newly formed United States. Many of them became farmers or craftsmen. The number of their direct descendants living in the U.S. and Canada today is still being debated.

There were many reasons for those soldiers to stay, one of them without doubt the fear of a long and dreadful sea voyage on little crowded sailing ships, but the most important reasons were the opportunity for a better life and freedom from oppression, and the promise of free land from the government. Many had already established good contacts with the local population and found companionship. Particularly in Quebec the churches registered a great number of marriages between German soldiers and French-Canadian brides.

CREDIT

Hessian Solders in the American Revolution